My one room apartment is a busy place this week. One friend is staying here until she finds her own apartment in a season of change, two others are bunking in while they attend the Celtic School of Music this week, and together we are like school girls camping out, staying up late, drinking tea and sharing stories.
So last night we got to talking about food. Surprise surprise that epicurean conversations happen in my home!!! Anyhow they were all laughing at me when I shared how absolutely glorious it is to stand in a market, see the plethora of fresh produce, the colours, the fragrances, the textures, and imagine what I could create in the kitchen with what is in my line of vision. This lead us then to discussions of writing articles connecting food and the spiritual life, or cooking and making life parallels as we created...on and on we went. The brain cells were connecting at a rapid pace.
Angela laughed and said "what would you do with the crab in the fridge"? Ah just think, sauté some shallots, then make a white wine sauce, add some fresh asparagus and the crab. Then place it in a crepe, wrapping it up and topping it off with some asiago cheese, pop it under the grill and serve with butter lettuce and a chilled glass of Gewürztraminer white wine.
Stand in the market place and see the fresh produce and what could you create? Fresh artichokes stuffed with garlic and steamed until tender then drizzle extra virgin olive oil over them. Forget about cutlery - just eat them and enjoy putting each leaf into your mouth and savouring the texture and flavour. Crunchy cucumbers with feta cheese and olive oil. Or arugola and cherry tomatoes with a touch of salt and fresh lemon juice. Look at those colours and the fragrance! Oh mama mia, the combinations are endless.
I would love to show girls how to create and let their senses come alive as they wander through a market, find glorious foods and then create. I would love to have a huge garden full of organic produce and show them how this is our life; the seasons, the weeds, the unexpected, the surprises, the new growth and the harvesting, the laughter and the tears, as well as community. To understand how rosemary can clear your thinking with its pungent aroma, and how a hint of it in a lemon sauce with capers makes chicken seem exotic. To chop fresh parsley, ingest the nutritious iron content as well as enjoy the fresh texture when it is mixed with tomatoes, shallots, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Colours that are true. Flavours that are real. Food value that is authentic and healthy. With a little knowledge, heaps of creativity and a few ounces of creativity, just add passion and you have an endless epicurean adventure.
At the same time it would be marvellous for them to learn to love their body, not to punish it with media ideas, but to love how they are created, and thereby honor it with good healthy choices for the palate.
You aren't sleeping well? Let's pick some lavender, wrap it in a piece of cloth and place it on your pillow. Crazy hectic day - why don't we put some sprigs of rosemary in the room so their aroma can calm you. Or in the evening throw them in the bathtub, light some candles and soak in this fragrance and be calmed. Anxiety leaving your stomach upset? Come on in and we will brew a tea with fennel seeds and a bay leaf to settle it down. Or why don't we throw a handful of mint leaves into the tea pot, let them sit in the boiled water for a few minutes and then sip a calming cup of mint tea - with absolutely no caffeine or preservatives. Our garden can provide for us on many levels.
Sorry I got carried away with my dreaming there but really, one day I will move more into teaching the younger generation how to respect, honor and love this art form that sustains and nurtures our body, mind and spirit. After all, I really will need something to do in the far away time of retirement - won't I??
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